Search - Leonard Warren, Lawrence Tibbett, Ruggero Leoncavallo :: Nimbus Prima Voce: Tibbett

Lawrence Tibbett, a singing actor

Margaret W. Champlin | Citrus Heights, CA USA | 05/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lawrence Tibbett was my favorite singer when I was a little girl....and this album brought back memories of the many operas he did at the Met....You have to get used to the sound, but once past that, it is a great album......I just listened to the Bocelli Tosca, and recall Tibbett was a great Scarpia...the Te Deum is on this recording. So much of the music recorded by the great singers of yesteryear is being lost....and I felt this was a great find..All the numbers on this CD are great and one especially beautiful one is the Hymn to the Evening Star from Tannhauser...simply beautiful"

"the quintessential American artist"

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 01/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lawrence Tibbett (1896-1960) was a magnificent bass-baritone, with a wide range both vocally and in repertoire, as he did Broadway as well as the opera he was most famous for, and had a charismatic stage presence that was so strong one can sense it through these recordings that were made during the height of his career, from 1926 through 1939.

Up until the last four decades, it was rare for an opera singer to achieve fame without a European background and resume, but Tibbett, born in Bakersfield, California, was one of the first and few to star at the Metropolitan without crossing the Atlantic, proof of his outstanding talent from the start.



Tibbett is brilliant in the arias chosen for this CD, which are sung in French, Italian, and German; favorites for me are the "Chanson du Toreador" (I have seen archival film footage of him singing this aria, which is fabulous and so memorable), the glorious melody of "Eri tu", in which we hear the darker tones of his rich voice, and the heavenly beauty of "Wie Todesahnung Dammrung" contrasted with power and emotion of "Wotan's Farewell".

The final track from "Simon Boccanegra", "Plebe ! Patrizi ! Popolo" includes the voices of some other big names from that great era at the Metropolitan Opera: Rose Bampton, Giovanni Martinelli, and Leonard Warren.



The sound has a few crackles, but overall has been very well re-mastered, and the age of the recordings becomes irrelevant once one becomes captured by the intensity and passion of Tibbett's singing. To quote the liner notes, these are "renditions seldom equaled, never surpassed".

The insert booklet contains notes, recording info, synopses of the arias, and photographs, and total playing time is 77'14.

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Tibbett - Prima Voce

Albert C. Ruocchio | Raleigh, NC | 03/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great selection of his work and the recordings are great for their age.



The selections are very good and makes it enjoyable to be able to hear the voice of this famous man and be able to get a very good feel for his voice and style."